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Fuel gauge and miles-to-empty not matching

30K views 41 replies 27 participants last post by  ste1990 
#1 ·
Chaps,

2012 ST-3 - my fuel gauge is showing right on the bottom of empty but the digital display on the dash is showing over 40 miles to go - any others experiencing the same and/or any way to make the two match up by doing a user reset or something (Ie not going into the dealer?)

Cheers
 
#8 ·
My gauge will be on empty as in
I need to fill up NOW
But the dist to MT still showing 35 ish

Also you don't get the low fuel on 50 mile ,( as on the mk2 )
its all over the place and sometime s I'm still waiting for the alarm when the needle is of the bottom .
So where do you fill up ?????
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
So far in the st I've always filled up at a quarter tank so can't comment on this car but on my 11 plate fiesta I had the needle right at the bottom of the red, and it still showed 30 odd miles left. I would go by the fuel gauge itself as the trip is only an estimation. However both could be wrong. I've had 2 friends, one in a 08 fiesta and one in a 11 fiesta. One run out of fuel because his fuel guage needle got stuck however the trip computer was saying 0 miles lol and the other run out of fuel when the needle said he was out but the trip said he had 20 miles to go lol

Also if the needle is and the red and the trip says xx miles left, could the reverse tank effect this, if it's got one?
 
#14 ·
When I initially got the car the two DID match up ok'ish, but with all this carry-on with the damaged wiring loom in the engine bay & the two breakdowns it now doesn't match up.

On one occasion last week I wasn't really paying attention and I probably came quite close to running out of fuel due to the trip computer saying I had 30-odd miles left when the gauge was at the very bottom.

Just wondered if you could do a user reset, the same as you can with the average miles and average speed etc. Pressing and holding the OK button when it is showing miles to empty doesn't reset like it does when the trip computer is showing other values.
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
On one occasion last week I wasn't really paying attention and I probably came quite close to running out of fuel due to the trip computer saying I had 30-odd miles left when the gauge was at the very bottom.
Just out of interest how many litres of fuel did you get in when you almost ran out(assuming you're a fill to the brim person)?? I once filled up when my fuel computer said 8 miles to empty and I could only fit in 51 litre so was slightly out!
 
#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
As far as I'm aware the miles to empty is the only one you can't reset. Maybe if you disconnect the battery. When I picked mine up. With a full tank of fuel it said 515 miles to empty, the average read 8mpg! So I'm not sure how it calculates the average as im currently averaging 35 mpg and its says 360 miles to empty with a full tank. I've never ever seen that 500 miles to empty again lol
 
#16 ·
It's a computer so will never be 100% accurate as it can't calculate quick enough, when you give it the beans I would have thought the computer will still think your driving like Miss Daisy and not adjust itself

If its like a MK2-3 then by disconnecting the battery would make the issue worse as it then takes the ECU a time to adjust to your driving style and adjust the miles to empty calculations, I did this on mine and from a quarter of a tank the computer was estimating I'd get nearly 100 miles which is way off.
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
I dont trust my fuel gauge anymore, i was Driving one Night from Lochcarron to inverness remote Highlands, in my Facelift MR290, at 2am, i could see the Streetlights of Inverness in the distant, thought i could make it ok, computer said 30 to go, and the needle was a fraction above Zero, car started pinking, and then ran out, just managed to get it of the Roadway onto grass, i flagged down a Taxi, he took me 2 Miles to Nessie, where i got Juce, My Turbo Gauge only goes up to 1/4 as well, following upgrade, before it would go into the Red Sector when trashed,
The Fuel gauge on my golf is compleatly dead on, just spot on, but the St 3 is not accurate at all,
 
#19 ·
I assume the dealer had the battery connections off to repair the damaged loom that caused all m breakdown + cut-out-when-cornering issues (which have now completely gone by the way) so is it a case then of the car taking a few tanks of fuel to re-learn levels etc?
 
#21 ·
I've done 30 miles with the guage on the bottom red line (i.e. about to go into the empty sector) with no sign of a low fuel warning. When I pulled in the petrol station the trip computer reckoned I had 50 miles to go and I near enough brimmed the tank but only managed to get in just over 50 litres so there was still close to 15 litres in the tank.
 
#24 ·
I've never let mine go below a quarter of tank. I normally get between 30-34 litres in. I just use the trip cpu as a guide. I go by the fuel guage. I think I said before, a friend of mine in his 08 fiesta ran out of petrol with 20miles still showing on the trip cpu lol
 
#25 ·
Does the remaining range not get calculated out using a current average of MPG figures from the last x amount of miles? When driving in town you get a lower range but if you go for a long run on the motorway afterwards the range barely comes down at all for a while.

This is how it worked in my previous Fords so I doubt it will have changed.

Your MPG figure on the computer is your average based on the miles and consumption since you last reset the trip. It is not the current average.
 
#27 ·
Old thread I know but rather than create a new one I thought I'd revive this for some input , when you disconnect the dash for led work this completely screws the calculations lol , I guess the some of the data is stored on the dash and the real time stuff comes from Ecu , so I half reset mine basically , I'm going to kam reset my Ecu today as the fuel guide till empty and mpg is all over the place due to odd calculations lol
 
#29 ·
I have sussed on mine that the bottom of the red isn't running out. I think running out would be when the guage needle is fully flat, which is below the red line. I took mine right to the bottom of the red line, and it was showing 30 miles left, then filled up and it took 5 litres less than the tank size
 
#30 ·
Been a few miles into 0 to empty showing flat on the needle so there's a good few miles after it actually it's 0 miles.

Once took a hire fiesta that was showing 10 miles left, i forgot my bank card at home and I was in Pickering managed to get right back to Leeds???? Really don't know how
 
#31 ·
I usually fill mine up when the gauge registers a quarter but the other week I accidentally let the gauge go closer to the red!!

The mileage to empty showed 90 and to be honest I was bricking it a bit as I was at work near Hinckley and I needed to get back to Ashby to fill up.........anyway, got to Tesco and only managed to get 42 litres of fuel into the tank!

My MP215 Fiesta had a 45 litre tank but I thought the ST Focus was bigger?
 
#33 ·
I think every Focus model uses 55 litre tank.

I normally fill up when the warning light comes on at 50 miles until empty and it takes approx 46 litres to fill. So there is still approx 9 litres in the tank at 50miles to empty.

So 50 miles at 29mpg (my current average) = 1.72 gallons/7.8 litres.....so not far out really is it?!
 
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